1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to features for enhancing the enjoyment and play value of propelled toy vehicles and more particularly to a generally vertically oriented loop feature for propelled toy vehicles.
2. Background Art
Toy vehicles, and in particular propelled toy vehicles, have long been popular playthings; their enjoyment and play value has been enhanced by various features such as obstacles over which propelled toy vehicles clamber and track layouts around which propelled toy vehicles race. A feature that is particularly entertaining and exciting is a generally vertically oriented loop around which a propelled toy vehicle proceeds in apparent defiance of gravity. Generally such loop features are part of a track layout such as for electrically powered slot car racers or track layouts for freewheeling vehicles that are propelled by gravity or mechanical launching devices. However, a vertical loop feature could as well be used in association with a propelled toy vehicle in the absence of a track layout.
Generally, vertically oriented loops have utilized non-aligned entrances and exits such that the loop is not a complete loop but is instead a portion or turn of a spiral. One disadvantage of such spiral turns is that the number of revolutions that the propelled toy vehicle can make is limited to the number of turns of the spiral that have been provided. Aside from the cost and space requirements for such additional turns of the spiral, there is the additional disadvantage that the player does not have any control over the number of revolutions that will be made with the propelled toy vehicle.
In Rasmussen U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,851 issued Nov. 13, 1990, a trackway segment is disclosed for facilitating flipping over of a propelled toy vehicle. The trackway segment includes an arc forming a curved ramp and a lower curved section mounted for pivotal movement relative to the curved ramp. The lower curved section is manually movable between a lower position where it permits the toy vehicle to enter the curved ramp and an upward position in which the toy vehicle will pass beneath it and bypass entering the curved ramp. However, the curved ramp of Rasmussen is specifically designed to flip the toy vehicle over by terminating the curved ramp far short of completing a loop. There remains a need for a generally vertically oriented single loop around which a propelled toy may complete a selected number of loops and then exit the loop.